Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Mom, please don't distinguish between the old and the young. How can we divide them when my son hasn't even married yet?" Zhang Shikang scratched his head.

It was his first time too, and there were eight of them at once, so he didn’t know what to do.

The Ming Dynasty had a strict etiquette system. The prerequisite for taking a concubine was to have a wife, but Zhang Shikang didn't even have a wife.

Regardless of whether it was Chen Zhu'er or Chen Yuanyuan, the gap in status between them and Zhang Shikang was too great. Not to mention that secular etiquette did not allow either of them to be his wife, even his father or his brother Chongzhen would probably not agree.

The Duke of Zhenguo, the emperor's right-hand man, married a maid and a singing girl. Just imagine the expression on Chongzhen's face.

Zhang Shikang actually didn't care much about wives or concubines. As long as he liked the one he liked, it was fine. Even if he really had a so-called legal wife in the future, he would treat them equally.

"That's right, hey, son, you really gave me a surprise.

Don't do this again in the future. It damages your reputation.

No, I still have to find you a wife first.

This is against the rules!" Sun became worried again.

In fact, if you strictly follow the rules, not only can you not take a concubine if you are not married, but even if you are married, you cannot take a concubine casually.

If an ordinary citizen wanted to take a concubine, he had to be forty years old and childless. Even for officials and royal family members, there were clear restrictions on the number of concubines.

This is because productivity was low in ancient times, and if not restricted, it would affect population growth.

This is also the reason why Yan Shifan, who was so powerful and took a ninth concubine, was still attacked by many ministers and criticized by Emperor Jiajing.

Sun certainly had reason to worry about her son.

"What are the rules, madam? Our son is not only a duke, but also holds military power.

No matter what the rules are, fists are the biggest rules!" Zhang Zhiji said nonchalantly.

“In my opinion, if my son is capable, he should take more concubines.

Son, you can do whatever you want outside. We have plenty of houses here. Even if you bring back 20 or 30, we will have room for them at home."

Zhang Zhiji said again.

Not only did Zhang Shikang drop his teeth in shock, but Sun also frowned. Sun even pinched the soft flesh on Zhang Zhiji's waist under the table as a warning.

"Madam! Have you forgotten what your husband told you?" Zhang Zhiji felt so painful that he had to explain to Sun in a low voice.

Oh, women, they have long hair but little knowledge.

Sun thought about it and immediately remembered what Zhang Zhiji had said to him before - his achievements are so great that they will frighten his master.

"If our son didn't have any flaws, in the future..."

Zhang Zhiji said this, how could Sun not understand, and immediately said as if it suddenly dawned on her:

"Son! Your father is right, men should be romantic!

My son is so capable, it is a blessing for them to marry into our family.

From now on, you can do whatever you want when you are outside, and don’t worry about the matters at home!

If anyone dares to say something, I will never let them off easily! "

As a result, Sun also stood on the same front with Zhang Zhiji.

Zhang Shikang was completely numb.

The ridiculous month I spent in Nanjing is still fresh in my mind. My back has been aching for several days.

If there were twenty or thirty of them, wouldn't he be squeezed into dried pickles?

"No... Dad, Mom, I'm not the person you think I am!" Zhang Shikang hurriedly explained.

"No need to explain, Dad understands!"

Isn't it just to give him a handle? Your father has been in power for decades, how can you not see this?

"Yes, son, you don't need to explain, your father and mother will always support you!

My son, remember, our Duke's Mansion can afford to support as many women as possible.

But... you have to be selective, you can't take just anyone home, especially a widow!"

"Stop, stop, stop! Mom, you're getting more and more ridiculous. I don't have that habit."

Zhang Shikang realized that the more he explained, the worse it got, so he simply stopped talking about the topic.

Since she couldn't find her daughter-in-law from Nanjing, Sun immediately ordered someone to call Chen Zhuer over.

Chen Zhu'er did not expect that Zhang Shikang would directly tell her family about her pregnancy. She knelt in front of Sun, the mother of the family, with a red face and full of trepidation.

The status of a maidservant is not even as good as that of a concubine. Before the master marries a wife and has children, the master generally does not allow the maidservant to get pregnant. Even if she does, the pregnancy will be aborted. So Chen Zhuer was particularly uneasy at this time.

"Hurry up, hurry up, you are pregnant, you dare not do this.

Come, sit down and let me take a look." Sun happily helped Chen Zhuer up.

Chen Zhu'er was still uneasy. She didn't know what was going on and thought that Sun would be very unhappy. In vain, she was pulled by Sun to sit on a stool beside her.

"Zhu'er, you were sold here by your family when you were young, and your parents have never come to see you, right?" Sun said enthusiastically, holding Chen Zhu'er's hand.

Chen Zhuer hummed softly.

"From now on, the Duke's Mansion is your home. If they don't love you, I will.

Here, take it." Sun took out a silver note of five hundred taels from her pocket and handed it over.

Chen Zhu'er didn't dare to answer it, but turned her head to look at Zhang Shikang.

"Zhu'er, this is not something you can just take casually, this is called a compensation for changing your words.

From now on, you have to call me mom." Zhang Shikang joked.

"mother."

Chen Zhu'er was very obedient and would call Zhang Shikang whenever he asked her to, which made Sun very happy.

Not only did he give Chen Zhu'er a reward of five hundred taels, he also gave her two maids to serve her.

After the incident of Zhang Shikang taking a concubine, the family was happy again. Zhang Shikang even had a couple of drinks with his father and brother.

Silent all night.

The next day, Zhang Shikang got up very late, thinking that the court meeting should be almost over, so he took a carriage to the palace.

The matter of improving the status of craftsmen can no longer be delayed. He has to hold a meeting with the cabinet and come up with a set of regulations as soon as possible.

An industrially powerful country cannot expect its craftsmen to contribute without paying them the proper treatment they deserve.

When Zhang Shikang arrived at the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen had indeed finished his morning court session and was sitting at his desk reading a book.

There was a pile of memorials waiting to be processed on the imperial desk, and the book that Emperor Chongzhen was reading was actually a book on agronomy sent by Song Yingxing.

"Your Majesty, this is not considered as not doing your job properly!" After paying his respects, Zhang Shikang teased.

"Didn't you say that we should combine work and rest? I can finish dealing with these memorials in less than two hours." Emperor Chongzhen rolled his eyes at Zhang Shikang.

After Zhang Shikang explained his purpose, Emperor Chongzhen summoned the members of the cabinet.

It was obvious that he was not very interested in the meeting. He let the cabinet ministers discuss the matter while he continued to read the book seriously.

So Zhang Shikang told his ideas to several other cabinet ministers.

When the topic of increasing the wages of craftsmen and establishing a grading system for craftsmen first came up, cabinet ministers such as Li Banghua and Hai Zhongqi just frowned.

They believed that craftsmen had been doing this for more than 200 years during the Ming Dynasty, and it would not be a good idea to raise the bar too high all of a sudden, but no one expressed clear opposition.

But when Zhang Shikang mentioned that he wanted to include science and engineering into the imperial examination system, several old cabinet ministers could no longer sit still.

"What? Include science and engineering subjects in the imperial examination? This is absolutely not possible!" Li Banghua said first.

"Lord Li, what you said makes sense. The imperial examination system has been in place for a thousand years. How can it be changed at will?" Hai Zhongqi also agreed.

……